Trip Reports

Participants:

Tracey: Age 31—Southeastern Territory Manager, Quantum Biotechnologies. GoH 1971. Two trips before we met—1971 (when she lived in Winter Park) and 1974 (when she stayed in the Contemporary).

Tim: Age 34—Southeast and Mid-Atlantic Account Manager, NOVA Chemicals. GoH 1978, the only time I had been there before we met.

Together we have been in 1988 (One day—EPCOT only, stayed off-site, with her parents), 1990 (One day—MK only, stayed off-site, with her parents), 1992 (Two days—EPCOT and MK, stayed off-site, with her parents), 1994 (Six Days—All parks, Dixie Landings), 1995 (Eight Days—All Parks, Dixie Landings, with my parents), 1997 (Eight Days—All parks, Coronado Springs).

Day One—Thursday 26 February 1998

I included our titles, as this trip was a combination of business and pleasure. Since Tracey and I both cover Florida for our respective companies, we planned sales calls and a WDW weekend together. Our plan was to do a little business, have a little fun, celebrate Tracey’s birthday on Friday, and not wear ourselves out "working" the parks. Since we have the luxury of having Florida in our territories, we have APs and plan on being at WDW at least three time this year.

On Wednesday, we drove to Orlando from Concord, NC (near Charlotte) —525 miles and close to 10 hours (although well over an hour was spent in a rest stop working the phones ). We had dinner at Fulton’s (expensive but oh so good) and spent the night at the Sheraton Four-Points by the Orlando Airport. This was tactically correct but a financial mistake. Tactically, the hotel was between our sales calls (me at Tupperware in Kissimmee, Tracey at the State Crime Lab in Orlando); Financially, we could have done better than the $149 rate. Thursday we made our sales calls in the morning and had lunch on I-Drive and spent about an hour in the Ripley’s museum (I’m a sucker for tilted houses). We arrived at the Contemporary right at 3:00PM, just in time to get our room in the North Garden building (on the first floor in the corner by the Tower). We had originally planned on staying at Port Orleans for this trip, and at the Contemporary in May for my birthday (staying there has always been my dream since seeing it on ABCs Disney show in the ‘70s), but we got such a good AP discount that we reversed the booking.

We had a room designed for the disabled; The closet had everything at wheelchair height and there was a "roll-in" shower stall along with the regular bathtub one—both with plenty of grab-bars. The door was extra wide with two peep-holes (one at standing height and one at wheelchair height). Our sliding door opened onto a small patio with a view (though a couple of trees) of Space Mountain. We could see Cinderella’s castle from the parking lot and noticed that the crane was still there, although we could not see any of the pink paint or candy decorations from the anniversary. Sticking with our plan of not wearing ourselves out, we changed and had a quick swim. This turned-out to be a good thing as it was just about warm enough for us to stand being in the water, and the rest of the weekend was a little cooler.

After our swim, we drove over to the West End and had dinner at the House of Blues (excellent). We then walked over to the Virgin store and then over to the Adventurer’s Club.

At the Adventurers Club, we took part in a skit in the Main Salon, then were implored by the members to see the Treasure Room show. We explained that we’d seen the Treasure Room (three times) and agree to come back to see the Library Show at 10:15. When we left to walk around, we realized that it was only about 8:00 and that we were fading fast from our all-day drive the day before, and an almost full work day—so much for the best laid plans. . . We did check out Mannequins, since it was a Thursday DV8 night, but, as you can imagine, nothing was happening so early.

On our way back to the hotel, we got a good look at the MK fireworks and realized that we would be able to see them from the hotel parking lot the next night.

Day 2 Friday 27 February 1998

Tracey’s Birthday! This day took a little scheduling, as Tracey’s parents were coming up from Tequesta (near Jupiter on Florida’s East coast) for dinner and we were going to meet them at the Marketplace at 3:30. We started with breakfast at Bonfamille’s at Port Orleans. We had eaten there a few times before and fell in love with the beignets (powdered sugar covered fried dough). We always try to either eat there (you get them as part of the meal) or get them at Port Orleans’ food court.

After breakfast we scooted over to Epcot. We didn’t realize it was an early entry day, and the guy behind me was denied entry because he didn’t have a resort ID. It wasn’t until I was well into the park that I realized that neither Tracey nor I had shown a resort ID (although we had them) as we had entered using our APs. Are early entry days open to AP holders regardless of where they stay?

Our first official attraction was Spaceship Earth. We really enjoy this attraction, although I have to agree with recent criticism in this newsgroup that it really doesn’t speak to much to the future (although it does sum up communications in the past rather well), and I do miss Uncle Walter. We didn’t spend any time messing with AT&T’s toys of today, as we are highly "connected" in real life, and conference calls and cell phones looked too much like work. From Spaceship Earth we strolled to the Wonders of Life. I rode one of the reclining stationary bicycles with a virtual tour of Disneyland. It was interesting, since we made our first trip there last April and enjoyed the chance to see the park again.

We didn’t plan on riding Body Wars, but the lines were too short to pass-up. Neither of us finds the "thrill" to exciting, and I’ve had too much quantum mechanics, and thermodynamics to believe that we’ll ever see miniature surgeons in our future.

After getting spied-on by the Snoopy blimp (I’d love the job of controlling that), we moved along to the Universe of Energy. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I enjoy the new version much better than the old. I noticed that about 75% of the adults seemed to take the "I’m Ellen the. . . well, just Ellen" comment to be a reference to her coming out. It seemed to be taken in good humor, which was good to see. I didn’t remember being sneezed on and spit at by the dinosaurs in October (our last trip), but it could have been our seating location. Is it a new addition?

Then it was over to Horizons—got to ride it while it’s still there. We really enjoy this attraction, especially all the references to the old Carousel of Progress. But, to be honest, it needs either a face-lift or euthanasia. I’d vote for the face-lift, but if its not going to happen they should put it out of its misery. While the lines this day were never long, there wasn’t anyone in the car in front of us or at least the three cars behind us on this ride. We chose the desert "return" (although one of the seats voted for the sea all by itself), and the film was badly worn and out of focus. We had just enough time to listen briefly to the Mariachi band outside of the Mexican pavilion before riding Maelstrom then making our priority seating at Akershus in the Norway pavilion. We just love that restaurant. I think I eat the value of my meal in smoked salmon every time we go (although I notice that they no longer serve the peel and eat shrimp—at least at lunch). I had a Viking horn of beer, so Tracey had to practically roll me out the door to get back to the hotel.

As a treat, we had scheduled massages at the Contemporary’s health club. Tracey went first, while I downloaded my work e-mail. A half-hour massage went a long way to ease my sore feet (and after only ¾ of a day in the parks!). A note here:I have always had a problem with blisters when we visit WDW (once so bad I had to use a wheelchair the next day). Subsequent vacations were saved by using moleskin on practically the whole bottoms of my feet. This time, I went to an outdoor sport outfitter in Charlotte and they suggested wearing two pairs of socks, an inner liner made of a very fine weave of wool, with a heavier wool sock over the liner. The theory is that wool wicks moisture away from your feet and the two socks rub against each other, rather than your foot against the sock, so blisters are less likely. After my four day trial, I have to say that it really works. I got a few hot spots, but no blisters.

After our massages, it was time to go to the Marketplace to meet the in-laws. Tracey’s folks had never spent any time in Downtown Disney, in any of its incarnations. They ate lunch at the Ghirardelli ice cream shop (they’re health nuts), followed by drinks at the Forty-Thirst Street on the West Side. One thing about my in-laws—if they by a 40 ounce drink, they drink all 40 ounces. When we met-up with them they seemed as woozy from the ice cream lunch and super-sippers as I felt from the 25 ounce Ringnes. We threw Tracey’s presents into our car and drove over to the Beach Club. We had a nice time sitting in the lobby, Tracey opening her presents, while we waited for our priority seating at the Cape May Café. As we were seated, the CM covering the next section over noticed our RADP buttons and introduced herself as Gardenia’s mother. She was the first CM to acknowledge the buttons, but not the last. A few CMs had called us by name, which always threw me off until I remembered that we were also wearing our Guest of Honor pins. Dinner was great and we moved back to our room at the Contemporary. We took some time to catch-up and talk about our next few months travel plans (Tracey covers the whole Southeast for a company based in Montreal, I cover Michigan to Florida for a company with US headquarters in Pittsburgh), then it was time for the fireworks.

Our view of the fireworks from the hotel parking lot was better than our view the next night between Tomorrowland and Fantasyland. The last few, with the rings, just blew me away.

After the fireworks we drove the folks back to their car at the Marketplace then popped over to Pleasure Island for an hour or so before heading back to bed.

Day 3 Saturday 28 February 1998

We started the day by driving over to the Boardwalk and valet parking for the day (another great resort guest perk). We had breakfast at Spoodles. The food was great—traditional breakfast fare with a Mediterranean twist—and the atmosphere was wonderful. The only downside was that I had the mistaken impression that it was a character breakfast, so I was a little disappointed in how long it was taking for the furry darlings to show-up. Tracey set me straight. We were also surprised at how sparsely the restaurant was filled, especially on a weekend; I guess it’s too new to have developed a following. As we left Spoodles, the boat to the Studios was leaving. We decided to wait for the Epcot boat, although a kind passer-by told us it was a short walk. In keeping with our vow to take it easy, we decided to wait anyway. This also gave us a chance to wander around the Boardwalk, even though most of the sidewalk shops were closed.

The boat arrived and dropped us off at the International Gateway. It was about 9:30, so Future World was open, but the World Showcase was still closed. As we did in October, we took our time strolling along the closed pavilions, and entered Future World.

Our first stop was Horizons. One of the few attractions we did twice. Again it was devoid of lines and showing its age. This time we chose the "space" return, and the film was in a little better shape than the "dessert" footage. Next we crossed the park to Imagination. I really enjoy this attraction, although I’m still humming the tune weeks after returning. Because the crowds were low, we actually had a chance to play with some of the "toys" in the attraction. Usually, I just watch for a while, not wanting to shoo off any of the children who are playing, so it was fun to "wield the pen" for once. We skipped Honey I Shrunk the Audience, as we wanted to get in Living with the Land before lunch. As we left Imagination, Tracey noticed a knot of people with RADP buttons (as usual, if they were snakes they would have bitten me), including Deb—who I didn’t realize wasn’t just Deb, but was DEB, until the next day at the Toad-in. We were invited to ride Imagination with them, and to meet at Spoodles for dinner, we politely declined both; Imagination because we were just leaving it, Spoodles because we had priority seating at the California Grill for dinner (in order to take advantage of the late closing at the Magic Kingdom).

The Circle of Life film wasn’t operating (although guests were streaming in later), so we took the boat ride. Tracey got a sales lead, as the CM mentioned that they were doing genetic research akin to the FlavorSavor tomato. By the time we left it was beginning to rain.

We left in time for our priority seating at the Coral Reef. I was a little shocked at the price to value ratio, and I missed SCUBA Mickey from a character breakfast (our first), some years ago. I don’t think we’ll be back soon. Next was the Living Seas. Tracey’s dad used to work for United Technologies, so the first time we went we got in through the VIP lounge which was fun. Back then they had dolphins where the manatees are now, and the top of the tank was in the lounge area. We relaxed for a while and were let into the theater as it was filling. This time we stood in line with everyone else (VIPs no more!). The rain had picked-up, so there was a healthy sized crowd. We really enjoy this pavilion, and intend to get re-certified someday so we can dive in the aquarium.

When we left Seabase Alpha the rain had really picked-up. Since our low-stress touring plan called for a nap, it wasn’t so bad walking back to and through the International Gateway to the Boardwalk and our car. We awoke in time to shower and dress for our California Grill dinner. We got just about the same table we had last Halloween (during the infamous downpour), and had a great view of the Magic Kingdom as the sun set and the lights came on. Dinner was great, but I didn’t realize that I ordered the same entree as last time until it arrived—so much for variety.

We made it to the Magic Kingdom (on foot) in time for the 7:30 Spectomagic. The parade, as always, was wonderful, but we made another tactical error. We found a spot to view the parade in front of the hat shop on Main Street. This meant we could see the upcoming floats around the square, rather than being surprised at whatever was coming next (we haven’t seen it that often), and it meant we would have to buck the departing crowds all the way back through the hub.

It took us almost a half hour to get from our viewing spot to the benches by the Teacups (between Tomorrowland and Fantasyland), but we arrived just in time for the 8:30 Fireworks. As I’ve already mentioned, they view wasn’t as good as from the Contemporary’s parking lot, but they were still spectacular and we didn’t see the need to angle for a better view.

Our original plan for the evening was to try and ride the "outside" attractions (Jungle Cruise, Big Thunder, Splash Mountain, Railroad), since we’re usually not in the park after dark. The problem was that we never put together a game-plan, and the fact that we got stuck on Splash Mountain (more later), so it really didn’t work out. Instead, we kept to our overall plan of keeping it simple and going with the flow, so we "wasted" some time on a couple of dark rides, which are the same at noon or midnight.

Our first attraction of the night was Peter Pan, one of the attractions we both love, but didn’t get a chance to ride last time. Because of the posts a few weeks back, I kept my eye out for Tinkerbell. She’s really in a bad spot. You have to be practically in the car before you have a good angle, and by then your thoughts are concentrated on getting in, not looking up. We were heading for Big Thunder, but the Haunted Mansion got in our way. We just missed one cycle, so we had a short wait for the doors to open. Haunted Mansion CMs are the second most impressive to me. I say second because they are just as much actors as the Jungle Cruise crews, but they don’t have to interact as much with the guests, so they can "turn off" if they want. I do credit them for keeping those dour expressions all the time. Our best experience here was a few years ago on Halloween, when some CMs stationed themselves along the ride—in the spots where you’re traveling backwards—and just stood there. Just coming across a real live human when you didn’t expect it was a shock.

It was now getting late, so we had to prioritize what to ride, since we knew we didn’t have enough time to do all the "outsides" before closing. We decided to drop Big Thunder (which I love, but find a little uncomfortable due to the lap bar), and the Railroad. If everything went right, we’d be able to get Splash Mountain and the Jungle Cruise in before closing. Everything did not go alright.

The wait for Splash Mountain was non-existent. Somehow, we ended-up in the second row of our log with no one in front of us, two early-teen girls directly behind us, and one of their fathers behind them. Off we went, around the first corner, and bumped into a car waiting to go up the first chain-drive. And waiting. . . and waiting.

There were three cars visible in front of us. The first was about a quarter of the way up the belt, and the other three of us were stuck behind them. After a minute or two the audio stopped (although the frog kept moving—doesn’t this cause synchronization problems?). A standard "please remain seated, the ride may start at any time. . . " message followed. After another minute or so, the two girls decided they wanted to sit up front and changed seats before anyone could say anything. Another minute or two and we heard a live voice over the PA saying "please sit down sir. . . "It was a this point that the girls realized they were probably seen changing seats.

Anyway, after 20-30 minutes of this, a lot of CMs scurrying about, etc. The ride started and we were on our way. I turned to Tracey and said that if we didn’t get stuck in the parade traffic we might just make the Jungle Cruise before closing. Fat chance. Our Splash Mountain adventure was just starting. We had just made it past the hopping Brer Rabbit, to the Brer Frog sitting on the alligator when we backed-up again. There were 5-6 boats in view, and it seemed like more in front of that around the bend. We sat for maybe 30 seconds before an obviously distraught lady came running back yelling—screaming—for a doctor.

My first thought was that whatever mechanical problem had stopped the ride before had happened again, and that someone got out of the boat and got pinched between the boat and the walk way. My second thought was how much of my first aid and CPR I remembered. For a second I got a paralyzing fear thinking that I might have to put that training to work, when the father of the girls got up and announced that he was a doctor and jogged up to help. I breathed a sigh of relief.

After another few seconds, a CM got on the PA and asked everyone to remain seated, and said someone would be up soon to get us. It took maybe five minutes for them to start evacuating the ride; the first priority, I assume, being whomever was injured. While we waited, someone walked a six or seven year old back, pointing out the characters, obviously trying to distract them. Eventually, CMs started helping people out of the boats. The girls looked a little scared, so I told them to stick with us and that we’d make sure someone knew they’d been separated from their dad.

We were walked back, away from the incident, to an emergency exit near the little house with the yellow female rabbit sweeping (the one that used to say something to or about Brer Rabbit). We met up there with some other evacuees, and were asked to wait while they found someone to walk us out. Two guys from the other group identified themselves as being the ones who started CPR, and we told the lead the two girls were with the doctor. The lead asked the four of them to stay behind after we had been walked out. The two guys said that the lady in the boat in front of them had, all of a sudden started screaming that her husband was having a heart attack. The ride didn’t stop until she had stood in the boat (I assume because there are only certain spots along the "track" where you can hold-up a boat). They said they jumped from their car and the man was unresponsive, so they dragged him onto the walkway. They continued that they had found no pulse, and started CPR, eventually getting a weak pulse and shallow breathing. By that time the doctor had arrived.

They said it took five minutes for CMs to arrive, but I the time between the ride starting from the first stoppage, to the time the lady came running back could only have been 2-3 minutes at the most—less than a minute at the least—and I could see CMs responding very shortly after that. I figure that they were so involved in the situation that it seemed like a long time. They said that he was a young guy, 35 or 40, and that his wife told them he had already had a heart attack and bypass surgery. In another couple of minutes the lead returned with a CM to walk us out. We were escorted to an outside stairway and walked down behind the scenes. We could see some parade floats in storage and the backs of the attraction buildings. It surprised me—although in retrospect it seems reasonable—how "industrial" everything looked.

As we rounded the corner of the building we could see an ambulance and a fire truck. This is now maybe ten minutes into the incident, and both vehicles’ crews were fully deployed. As a matter of fact, by the time we walked past the ambulance, the crew was bringing the man out. He had an oxygen mask on, and they weren’t doing CPR on him.

It is always my policy to not stand in the way of people trying to work, and that goes double for cops, firemen and EMTs, so we quickly moved along and through a door back into the Magic Kingdom. We "reappeared" near the regular exit of the ride. There were a number of anxious looking people around, including one that Tracey assumed was the wife of one of the first responders. Tracey asked if she was looking for her husband, described him, and told her he was OK and what had happened. It amazed me that she was able to pick out this guy’s wife after talking to him for only a few minutes! Of course it was past closing by now, and we began to walk back through Adventureland. It was very deserted. It was at this time that I realized how hard my heart was beating, and how much adrenaline was pumping—and I never actually saw any of the incident.

As we got closer to Main Street there were more and more people, and as we reached the hub I could hear a mother and daughter talking about the incident. Already the details were starting to get distorted. They’re story was that the guy had a heart attack and the ride was stopped for 45 minutes, then he felt better so they started it again, then he died and they stopped it and evacuated the attraction!Felt better!I was about to start an argument with them, when I realized that they were too stupid to bother with. We decided to walk off the jitters we were both feeling, so instead of taking the Monorail back to the hotel, as had been our original plan, we walked.

Day 4 Sunday 1 March 1998

Sunday started with the character breakfast at Chef Mickey’s. We had originally planned on meeting Chuck Strom, who was staying at the Contemporary for the Toad-In, but the note we left at the front desk was never delivered. During the breakfast, Chip, Dale, Minnie, and Goofy all acknowledged our RADP buttons—I wonder who you are. This was close to the highlight of the trip. As I’ve posted before, I think character breakfasts are one of the best ideas WDW has come up with in recent years. If we had kids, we would definitely start our trips with one. Just the pleasure of getting some "quality time" with the characters without having to buck the crowds (I always felt silly, as an adult, standing in line with 5 year olds to get my picture with Roger Rabbit) is worth the price.

After breakfast we did a little shopping on the monorail concourse then it was off to the Magic Kingdom. Our first order of business was to get Tracey a pair of sunglasses as she couldn’t find her own. It’s a tradition for us to buy sunglasses from Disney. Two years ago Tracey lost a pair in Typhoon Lagoon. A big wave knocked them off and we searched for a while, eventually attracting a CM. She said that if they weren’t found right away, they were probably gone, but told us how to report them missing. Since they were expensive, we filed a report. A few months later we received a nice letter explaining that they hadn’t been found and apologizing for their loss. We got a laugh out of that, it wasn’t their fault we were wearing expensive sunglasses in a wave pool.

Tracey replaced them with a pair from EPCOT (with Walt Disney World screen

printed on them). Last year I misplaced a pair of el cheapo’s at Disneyland

and picked up an equally cheap pair from a shop at the hotel—I still wear them. This year’s pair came from one of the shops on Main Street. First stop was Space Mountain. This had a pretty good queue, both sides were operating and the line of people extended though all the barriers and out to the control booth. The ride (right side) was pretty good, but I still like Disneyland’s better because of the music. I am also disappointed by the post-ride show, "Fed-Ex in Space," but it’s better than when they just had the conveyers and nothing to look at. The whole experience took enough time that afterwards we went right to Tony’s Town Square for our lunch priority seating. While we waited we struck up a conversation with two families from Quebec, who were bemoaning their weak dollar ($0. 69 compared to the USD), and we think Disney is expensive!

After Tony’s we did the Jungle Cruise that we missed-out on the night before. It’s not as good in the light of day, and I was surprised at the time it took to get on—at least 30 minutes.

Next up was Pirates of the Caribbean. There was practically no line. As a matter of fact, it hasn’t had much of a line the last four or five times we’ve ridden it (discounting the last time which was an E-Ticket night). I’m a little worried about its future.

Next was the Toad-in. We only knew Chuck from the RADP-NC meet the week before, and Deb & a few others from meeting in Epcot the day before. Everyone made us feel welcome, and with the exception of Toad himself being late, everything went smoother than I expected. I’m sure you all have read the official report, so I won’t duplicate it here, except to say that I was very impressed by management’s response to a couple of dozen potential trouble-makers.

Gardenia et al said that they would have invited us to dinner, but the priority seats had already been filled. We were invited for drinks at the Concourse bar in the Contemporary afterwards, and we tentatively agreed to meet them. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it.

After the meet, we all rode Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, of course, with the managers and CMs helping to make sure we all got on together. From the Toad-In, we went for Splash Mountain again. Wouldn’t you know it, just before we got on the ride stopped. It started again a few minutes later and we rode without incident.

After a snack and a nap, a long nap, so long we missed our "date" with the RADPers, we set-off in search of food. We ended-up at Wolfgang Puck’s at the West Side and had a great meal.

Another stop at the Virgin store, and another tactical error. Not an error really, just a succumbing to temptation. I picked-out a few books and Tracey was still looking, so I wandered downstairs. I had discovered the LP section (yes, real vinyl LPs, the audiophiles still love them) the last time we were there, but I was surprised to see they had moved it. I continued to wander and came across the vinyl section again, right where I saw it the last time. This could only mean one thing—Laserdisks!Tracey and I are really into movies. Really, really!And I have been suitably unimpressed with the DVDs on the market, waiting for better image compression/decompression. As a result, we’re still using laserdisks, and feeling like the dinosaurs watching the pretty comet fall to earth. We know its a dying technology (especially since it never really caught-on in the US), so we’ve been buying movies like they’re going out of style. We ended-up buying six or seven disks, including Battleship Potemkin, a real classic that I haven’t even seen on videotape (the last time I saw it was in a film course on 16mm film). A few dollars poorer, we ended our busy, busy day.

Day 5 Monday 2 March 1998

Our final day for this trip. We started by packing and checking-out, then it was over to the Studios for our character breakfast at the Soundstage. This was our most disappointing character breakfast of three trips. There just weren’t enough characters, and they were too heavily weighted toward the newer films (of which Aladdin is the only one worthwhile). We’re usually pretty embarrassed interacting with the face characters, but this time Esmerelda really flirted with Tracey—not that there is anything wrong with that—making us wonder if we should have left her our number. Too bad we weren’t staying another night.

Our next stop was the Little Mermaid show. We wandered in a few years ago, it was hot and the show was just about to start so there wasn’t a line. We expected it to be targeted at six-year-old girls, so we were pleasantly surprised at the quality of the show, especially the puppetry at the beginning.

Next we went over to the Muppets, loved it as usual, then on to Start Tours. We intended to do the Tower of Terror next, but the tote board said it had a ninety minute wait (on a MONDAY!) and we’d have missed our lunch priority seating.

So we sat in front of the Movie Ride and rested our feet and people watched for a while, then we went into the Movie Ride. I never really cared for this one. I mean its OK, but the gangster taking over the car seems a little contrived, and the CMs always seem to strain to stay in character. We hadn’t had to wait very long in the past, so we didn’t get to see much of the pre-show. This time we had about 10 minutes in the pre-show area, so we got to see a great deal of the clips. It really made a difference.

After the ride we walked over to Mama Melrose’s for lunch. It was excellent as usual, and not very crowded. We finished and walked over to the Tower of Terror. The tote-board said the wait was down to 75 minutes, and I’d say it was just about right.

Only one side was operating and a CM walking between the car exit and the photo booth told us they expected the ride to be down "a few more weeks. " After the Tower we started our long ride home, well 81/2 hours anyway, and began planning our May trip (14-18).

Tim and Tracey Kugel

kugeltj@aol.com

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